You might have been asked to get an official translation of your birth certificate for a visa application. Or official translations of your academic transcripts so that you can apply for a scholarship. This article explains why official translations exist and how you can obtain one in Bogotá, Colombia.

A translation involves converting a document that is written in one language into another language. An official translation is when this document is translated by someone who has been certified as skilled in this task.

The history of official translations

The first official translators were interpreters for Kings in royal courts in medieval times. Official written translations really began with World Wars I and II, when classified military documents needed to be translated between the languages of allied countries. Following World War II, the idea of certifying civilian translators to ensure the accuracy of these translations became popular as countries in the world became more and more connected. When the boom of globalization began in the 1980s, and at a time when the internet didn’t exist and communications were slow, official translations were a way of ensuring the veracity of identity documents.

How do you become an official translator?

Official translation requirements vary from country to country. In Colombia, official translators have to pass an exam that is administered by the National University in Bogotá, which involves both written and oral components. The exam is famous for being extraordinarily difficult, with the passing grade any score above 4.5 out of 5 (90%).

After passing the exam, Official Translators in Colombia receive their Official Translator Certificate, which entitles them to carry out official translations. They are required to make a stamp that contains their details and Official Translator registration number. In Colombia, Official Translators are certified to carry out translations between two languages, one of those being Spanish.

What should an official translation include?

Any official translation in Colombia should have the following:

1. 1. This stamp should have the Official Translator’s name, their Offical Translator registration number and the languages that they are certified to translate.
   2. All official translations must be signed by the Official Translator.
   3. Official translators number each document that they translate, which certifies that they are not falsifying their work. This is a sequential number and it gives you an idea of how experienced the translator is (if it is numbered 6, then they are just starting. If it is No. 4,833, they have been doing this for a while).
   4. At the top, your official translation should say “Official Translation”.

Previously, written translations were only provided in physical format (hard copy). With the arrival of new technologies, it is common that an official translator provides both a digital copy (scan) and physical version (paper) of the written translation. You should always request a physical copy of the translation, as this is often required for different procedures.

ONG Traducciones has been providing official translations for more than a decade. You can find out more about this service by clicking here.

Influenced by the global economy, technological developments and the political situations of different countries, the translation and interpreting industry is constantly transforming. Interactions between companies, governments, NGOs and individuals across borders are increasing and growing in complexity, which means that translation companies must transform the services they provide to meet these needs.

Based on our experience working in Bogotá, Colombia, and taking into account the needs of our clients in Latin America, North America and Europe, we are expecting the following trends to occur in 2025.

1. Increased use of Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE)

While many media outlets have speculated that the prevalence of machine translation software such as DeepL and Google Translate would lead to AI replacing translators and interpreters, the opposite appears to be true. In 2025, we believe that there will be significant growth in the number of clients seeking MTPE services. While machine translations have improved, they still fall short of the quality achieved by a human translator. This is because machine translations still produce low levels of readability, struggle with the use of colloquial/local terms and regularly confuse words and phrases that can have different meanings depending on the text.

Our clients request MTPE for a number of reasons:

1. The speed offered by machine translations, which is useful for large quantities of work;
2. The quality provided by the human translator when they review, adjust and correct the machine translation;
3. MTPE has a lower cost compared to a human translation.

It is clear that the use of artificial intelligence tools (neural machine translation (NMT) software like DeepL and Google Translate) combined with an experienced and skilled translator who carries out the post-editing provides the highest quality and best value for money required by clients, particularly in the private sector.

2. Growth in official translations

Because the translations industry is affected by political, economic and social factors, changes to US migration policy at the start of 2025 with the arrival of the Donald Trump administration will have a clear knock-on effect around the world.

While economic migration to the US from Colombia and other Latin countries will decrease due to the policies proposed by the new US government, we believe that there will be a shift of Colombians seeking to migrate to other countries such as Canada, Australia, the Middle East and Spain.

We also predict an increase in Colombian professionals applying to scholarships for postgraduate study in countries like USA, Germany, UK and Korea, particularly from the main cities of Bogotá, Medellín and Cali.

These trends will lead to an increase in the number of official translations required by future migrants and graduate students, who will need to include certified translations of their birth certificates, educational diplomas, bank statements and title deeds as part of their applications.

3. More academic translations

Taking into account the increasing number of right-wing populist governments across the region that seek to reduce the role and size of the State, we believe that researchers in Colombia and other Latin countries will seek to fill this gap by translating journal articles, book chapters and thesis results. This will have the goal of increasing the dissemination of knowledge and proposing solutions to problems previously addressed by governments.

The ideas formulated by academics to improve the functioning of society are more necessary than ever, which is why we predict that more and more researchers in Latin America and the Caribbean will look to publish their results in international journals. This will have the goal of counterbalancing the negative effects of populist policies and reduced funding for research on freedom of thought, the circulation of ideas and the exchange of knowledge.

4. Prioritization of face-to-face interpreting

While we don’t believe that there will be a reduction in Zoom calls with interpreting because it’s a a low-cost and effective method of communicating across borders and language barriers, in 2025 we predict an increase in face-to-face interpreting to facilitate country visits to Colombia and other nations in the region.

We believe that there a number of reasons for the emergence of this trend:

1. A desire among people working with companies and organizations in Colombia and other Latin American countries to have face-to-face meetings with local staff, improving the amount and quality of information they receive and facilitating their understanding of issues and complexities in local contexts;
2. The need for foreigners to visit a number of locations, observe environmental factors and have conversations with stakeholders such as community members, local politicians, public officials and local staff. A trip to Colombia will often include at least one or two trips to the field, allowing the visitor to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues faced by the organization/company in their work.
3. The opening-up of a Colombia as a country that welcomes foreign investment and international cooperation under the current national government. Companies and organizations are exploring the possibility of establishing operations and branch offices in Colombia. This work is often facilitated through initial face-to-face visits that involve meetings with government agencies, potential local partners and different stakeholders.

5. Expansion of translations in the environmental sector

Following the very successful COP16 on biodiversity held in Cali, Colombia in late 2024, we believe that there will be an expansion of environmental translations in 2025. This is primarily because climate change, deforestation, global warming, environmental conservation and the work of environmental defenders are issues that are becoming more and more mainstream. Many of the principles, practices and policies that have been developed by environmental rights organizations and social leaders are now being adopted by national governments and the private sector. The COP30 on climate change in Brazil will generate even more focus on the environmental sector, strengthening cross-border relationships and in turn increasing the need for high quality translation and interpreting services.

The dire situation of the environment around the world means that international cooperation agencies from wealthier countries will place even more importance on funding environmental initiatives that defend people’s environmental rights and support communities to adapt to the effects of climate change.

ONG Traducciones provides a range of interpreting and written translations services. You can find out more about our work by clicking here.